Indie watchmaking's Queen of Skulls explodes back into the limelight with an all new design, and with a little help from her friends at Agenhor, once again Fiona Krüger seems to have her finger right on the pulse of the millennial zeitgeist with the Chaos Mechanical Entropy.

Just five years ago Scots designer Fiona Krüger burst through the saloon bar doors onto an unsuspecting watch world with her first Skull watches. Uncompromising, colourful and vibrantly outgoing, the Skull's very appearance was enough to snap necks at fifty paces, and with hand finishing throughout and high grade Swiss made movements with bespoke components, its uplifting quirkiness is backed up with all the right horologic credentials, and in its now numerous guises has been a considerable worldwide hit for this young and single minded woman. But she's not one for resting on her laurels and the Chaos collection suggests that there's plenty more to come.

Fiona Krüger Chaos Mechanical Entropy Rhodium

If the new Mechanical Entropy models, which announce the arrival of the Chaos collection, are very different in style to the Skull, they've still steeped in the Krüger DNA; fresh, spirited, and confident, and with a face full of fragmenting shards frozen in mid-shatter there's a generous application of angsty punk rock attitude. Initially there are two models, which are differentiated only by the options of either gold or silvery rhodium plating on the otherwise black face, and they come in titanium cases which are a modern, slightly exaggerated tonneau shape with the crown positioned at the top of the case, so in contrast to the drama within, the curving lines are pure and unmolested.

Measuring 48mm from top to bottom and 40mm across, the Mechanical Entropy is certainly not dainty, but at just 7.5mm tall it's pretty slender, and without lugs as such, the quick change straps nestle in to recesses under the ends of the case, and as the back curves ergonomically it should fit most wrist sizes - of both genders - comfortably. The sides and surfaces are flat and neat with matte finishing and polished detailing, and the sapphire crystal too is flush to the profile of the case. With a strap to contend with, top mounted crowns can be difficult to integrate successfully, but here there's clearance between the two, and with the crown being large and tactile, it's easy to adjust or wind.

Inside, shard-like gold hour markers are applied to the underside of the crystal, above black satin finished plates, into which sharp jagged cutaways are defined by gold or rhodium edges, and reveal the running train and AgenPit balance and escapement assembly beneath. The pointed hands are accented with white lacquer, and beyond those it's all fireworks as the Mechanical Entropy makes full use of the movement's components to capture the moment of detonation, dispensing with a formal dial, and featuring either gold or rhodium plated exploding centrepiece which surrounds the specially skeletonised minutes wheel, as well as openings which reveal the hand engraved barrel and exposed winding mechanism nearby.

To the rear, six screws fix down the bezel with exhibition crystal caseback, and the Mechanical Entropy's theme of general disorder continues, with jagged zigzag edges defining the plates which here too have blast holes corresponding with those on top, so parts of the watch are completely see through, and it's all signed off with the Fiona Krüger autograph.

The movement is developed by specialist horologic innovators Agenhor SA, who collaborated closely with the designer to create the challenging but beautifully executed piece which stands at just 3.2mm tall. Made to measure, it's manual winding and stores fifty hours of reserve in the barrel, and is entirely made in-house.

With the Mechanical Entropy the Fiona Krüger Chaos collection is off to an impressive start, and having seen how her Skull collection has evolved through the use of different dial colours, guilloché and skeletonisation, who would be surprised to see similar happening with this too? The potential is there, and you just know that there's order behind Chaos.

Fact file:

REFERENCE: Mechanical Entropy
CASE SIZE: 48mm x 40mm x 7.5mm
CASE MATERIAL: Titanium
DIAL: Open
MOVEMENT: Manufacture manual winding
POWER RESERVE: c. 50 hours
FUNCTIONS: Hours, minutes
BRACELET/STRAP: Technical fabric
BUCKLE: Pin buckle
WATERPROOF RATING: n/a
PRICE: CHF 26'500